James Gillray was born in London in the Chelsey district. His father was Scottish and a war veteran. The young Gillray learned the profession of letter engraver and was later accepted as a student at the Royal Academy, working as an engraver time and again to finance his studies and livelihood. From a very young age he was interested in caricature, he especially loved William Hogarth, a very famous caricaturist of the 18th century who was his great idol. Very soon Gillray also began to publish caricatures himself, albeit at first under a fictitious name. Only little by little did drawings with his name appear. For many contemporaries and even today James Gillrey is considered "the father of political and social caricature". Of course, he also lived in a time of great political and social upheavals and also in a time when caricature as an important means of expression for depicting events and their interpretation became fashionable and suitable for the masses. Gillrey's intellect, his wit, his sometimes pitch-black humour and his gift for observation, but also his great talent for drawing made his works unique.
In his private life he was not so successful and happy. He suffered from arthritis or gout in his hands at a younger age, which caused him great pain, and his vision was also increasingly poor. Disabled in his work, he became melancholy and increasingly addicted to alcohol. James Gillray did not start a family either, but he probably lived with his publisher Hannah Humphrey for many years and thought about marrying her from time to time. At least contemporaries ascribe a relationship to the two and it is a fact that Hannah Humphrey took care of Gillray after he wanted to take his own life by jumping out of a window in 1811. He survived, but was repeatedly confronted with severe depressions and psychoses. In 1815 the artist died at the age of only 58 years. Among collectors the caricatures of James Gillray are still very popular. Key prints such as "Fashionable Contrasts" and "Light Expelling Darkness" have already fetched prices of 10,000 to 20,000 US dollars at auctions.
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.jpg "The Plum Pudding in danger or State Epicures taking un Petit Souper, pub. 1805 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Nelson")
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.jpg "A Voluptuary Under the Horrors of Digestion, July 2, 1792 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "John Bull Taking a Luncheon, or British Cooks, cramming Old Grumble-Gizzard with Bonne-Chere, published by Hannah Humphrey by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Grand Coronation Procession of Napoleon the 1st Emperor of France, from the Church of Notre-Dame by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Le Baiser a la Wirtembourg, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1797 by James Gillray")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-161499).jpg "Dido in Despair, published by Hannah Humphrey by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Fashionable Contrasts, or The Duchess")
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.jpg "Destruction of the French Colossus by James Gillray")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-297654).jpg "Tales of Wonder, pub. H. Humphrey, London, 1802 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "National Conveniences, 1769 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Fighting for the Dunghill or Jack Tar settling Buonaparte by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Germans Eating Sauerkraut by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Wine Duty, or The Triumph of Bacchus and Silenus with John Bull")
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.jpg "Gillray Cartoon on Vaccination Against Smallpox Using Cowpox Serum by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Spanish Bull Fight, or The Corsican Matador in Danger, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1808 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Maniac Ravings, or Little Boney in a Strong Fit, 1805 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Boney and Talley, The Corsican Carcase-Butchers Reckoning Day - No Quarter Day! by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Siege de la Colonne de Pompee, or Science in the Pillory, published by H. Humphrey in 1799 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Triumphant Britons, 1780 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Pillars of the Constitution: Three o")
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.jpg "The Balance of Power, or The Posterity of the Immortal Chatham turned")
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_(bundw_photo)_-_(MeisterDrucke-37204).jpg "John Bull")
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.jpg "La Bonnet Rouge or John Bull evading the Hat Tax, pub. 1797 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Delicious Dreams! Castles in the Air! Glorious Prospects! An Afternoon Nap after the Fatigue of an Official Dinner, cartoon depicting Lord Portland and his ministers by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Sans-culottes Feeding Europe with the Bread of Liberty, 1793 (Sans-culottes, feeding Europe with the Bread of Liberty) by James Gillray")
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 (see also 152999) - (MeisterDrucke-38752).jpg "The Plum Pudding in Danger by James Gillray")
 (see also 152999) - (MeisterDrucke-38752).jpg)
.jpg "Scotch Harry")
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 published by J Wright and inscribed For ye Anti-Jacobin Review 1798 (etching with e - (MeisterDrucke-146027).jpg "Two Pairs of Portraits, Presented to all the Unbiased Electors of Great Britain, by John Horne Tooke (1736-1812) published by J. Wright and inscribed")
 published by J Wright and inscribed For ye Anti-Jacobin Review 1798 (etching with e - (MeisterDrucke-146027).jpg)
.jpg "Sketch of the Interior of St. Stephen")
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.jpg "The Death of Admiral Lord Nelson, in the moment of Victory, pub. 1805 by James Gillray")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-192564).jpg "Duke William")
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.jpg "Effusions of a Pot of Porter, or Ministerial Conjurations for Supporting the War by James Gillray")
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.jpg "British Tars towing the Danish Fleet into Harbour, or The Broadbottom Leviathan trying to swamp Billy")
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.jpg "A Duet:")
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.jpg "Political Candour, i.e. Coalition")
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 Taking Leave of his Wife and Family 1793 - (MeisterDrucke-90947).jpg "Louis XVI Taking Leave of his Wife and Family, 1793 by James Gillray")
 Taking Leave of his Wife and Family 1793 - (MeisterDrucke-90947).jpg)
.jpg "The Royal Extinguisher, or Gulliver Putting Out the Patriots of Lilliput by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Tiddy-Doll, the great French Gingerbread-Baker, drawing a new Batch of Kings. - his Man Hopping Talley, mixing up the Dough by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Napoleon Baking a New Batch of Kings, 1806 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Opposition Telegraph")
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.jpg "A Military Sketch of a Gilt Stick, or a Poker Emblazoned, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1800 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Malagrida & Conspirators, consulting the Ghost of Oliver Cromwell by James Gillray")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-392123).jpg "A Witch upon a Mount")
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.jpg "Political Mathematicians Shaking the Board bottomed Hemispheres, pub. 1807 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Flannel Armour; Female Patriotism by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Napoleon and King George III as Gulliver and the King of Brobdingnag by James Gillray")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-392478).jpg "The Giant Factotum amusing himself by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Britannia Between Scylla and Charybdis, or The Vessel of Constitution Steered Clear of the Rock of Democracy and the Whirlpool of Arbitrary Power, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1793 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Reception of the Diplomatique & his Suite, at the Court of Pekin by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Austrian Treatment of the French Envoys, 1799 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Life of William Cobbett, written by himself, 1809 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Supplementary Militia Turning Out for Twenty Days Amusement, or The French Invade Us, Hay Damme, Who")
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.jpg "Taming of the Shrew: Katherine and Petruchio, or The Modern Quixote, Published by S.W. Fores in 1791 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Charon")
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.jpg "Georgey in the Coal-Hole, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1801 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "A Peep into the Shakespeare Gallery, Published by Hannah Humphrey in 1791 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Great South Sea Caterpillar, Transformed into a Bath Butterfly by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The New Dynasty, or The Little Corsican Gardener Planting a Royal Pippin Tree, Published by Hannah Humphrey in 1807 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Which Way Shall I Turn Me, How Shall I Decide, Published by S.W. Fores in 1793 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "New Morality, or The Promised Installment of the High Priest of the Theophilanthropes by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Former Occupations, or Madam Talian and the Empress Josephine Dancing Naked before Barrass in the Winter of 1797 - a Fact! by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The French Invasion, or John Bull Bombarding the Bum-Boats, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1793 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Dagger Scene, or The Plot Discover")
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.jpg "Titianus Redivivus or the Seven Wise Men consulting the new Venetian Oracle, a scene in")
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.jpg "The First Kiss this Ten Years! Or the meeting of Britannia and Citizen Francois by James Gillray")
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.jpg "God Save the King- in a Bumper, or An Evening Scene Three Times a Week at Wimbleton by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Charon")
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.jpg "Progress of the Toilet, or Dress Completed, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1810 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Pillars of the Constitution: Three o")
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.jpg "A Slice of Gloster Cheese, Published by Hannah Humphrey by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Dissolution; or The Alchemist Producing an Ethereal Representation by James Gillray")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-184135).jpg "Integrity Retiring from Office! by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The coming-on of the Monsoons, published by Hannah Humphrey by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Zenith of French Glory; The Pinnacle of Liberty by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Satire on the Panic Among the Patriots After the Restoration of Stadtholder William V, 1787 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Plate 3 from")
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.jpg "The Zenith of French Glory, - the Pinnacle of Liberty, February 12, 1793 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Disciples catching the Mantle: the Spirit of Darkness overshadowing the Priests of Baal by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Loss of the Faro Bank, or The Rook")
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.jpg "The Bear and His Leader, Published by Hannah Humphrey in 1806 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Cartoon Depicting Colonel Justly Watson with the Body of a Boot by James Gillray")
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.jpg "French Liberty. British Slavery by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Bonaparte hearing of Nelson")
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.jpg "Austrian Treatment of the French Envoys, 1799 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Pigs Possessed: or the Broad bottomd Litter running headlong into the Sea of Perdition, pub. 1807 by James Gillray")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-158012).jpg "The House that Jack Built, published by Walker by James Gillray")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-146558).jpg "Disciples Catching the Mantle - The Spirit of Darkness Overshadowing the Priests of Baal by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Plate 6, from")
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.jpg "The Death of the Great Wolf, 1795 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Dido")
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.jpg "A Hint to Young Officers, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1804 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "A Voluptuary under the Horrors of Digestion, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1792 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "New Way to Pay the National-Debt Caricature, 1786 by James Gillray")
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_published_by_Han_-_(MeisterDrucke-216221).jpg "La Belle Espagnole, or La Doublure de Madame Tallien, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1796 by James Gillray")
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.jpg "The Tree of Liberty with the Devil Tempting John Bull by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Introduction of Citizen Volpone & His Suite at Paris by James Gillray")
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.jpg "Rodney Triumphant, or Admiral Lee-Shore in the Dumps by James Gillray")
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